SAVING SALVIA

An Explosion Of Noisy Youtube Videos Endangers The Sanctity Of A Visionary
Herb

In a traditional Mazatec vision quest ceremony, before eating the
psychoactive herb Salvia Divinorum - Latin for "sage of the seers" - a
shaman gives you a series of instructions. First, he explains, the spirit
of Salvia Divinorum is a female entity who imparts wisdom and healing
visions. You should approach her quietly, reverently. As the Mazatec say,
"Her spirit is shy like a deer."

For generations, salvia ceremonies have inspired spiritual seekers. Search
"Salvia Divinorum" on YouTube, however, and you'll get an entirely
different view of the ancient curative plant. Over the past year or so,
dozens of homemade salvia "bad trip videos" have been uploaded to the
site, capturing teenagers crawling on their hands and knees in dorm rooms,
stumbling down stairwells or hiding underneath kitchen tables, all to the
amusement of friends and onlookers.

While salvia is still legal and available for purchase in most of the
U.S., the YouTube videos and other evidence of salvia misuse have put the
sacred plant's future on the line. In January of 2006, the suicide of a
young Delaware man named Brett Chidester was linked to Salvia Divinorum.
Although he had not been using salvia at the time of his death and no
traces were found in his body during the autopsy, in the wake of his
passing, Delaware enacted "Brett's Law," putting Salvia Divinorum onto
Delaware's controlled substance list and on the federal radar. Twelve
other states and several local governments have followed suit, banning or
otherwise regulating salvia; This year, Florida made possession or sale a
felony punishable by 15 years in prison, while California made it a
misdemeanor to sell or distribute to minors.

Such laws could present considerable challenges for researchers at
institutions like the University of Kansas and Harvard who believe
salvia's active compound, Salvinorin A, could play a key role in the
development of new pain and psychiatric medications.

As University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher Bryan L. Roth
recently told the New York Times, "If we can find a drug that blocks
salvia's effects, there's good evidence it could treat brain disorders
including depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's, maybe even HIV."

In addition to its promise as a groundbreaking medicine, Salvia Divinorum
is sadly one of the last legal shamanic entheogens in the United States.
If administered ceremoniously and safely, as the Mazatecs traditionally
teach, salvia needn't draw negative attention.